Discretion is the better part of valor

May 12--Springfield, MO

I slept OK last night; I thought it was going to rain so I had most of the windows closed, and it got stuffy. I did wake up for a while and open the top hatch, which helped. It was also very humid.

I knew I wasn't in a hurry, so I spent most of the morning reading and on the internet and cleaning and tidying the rig (it's amazing how much clutter can accumulate in just two days in such a small space). I also walked around the RV park, and found that many (if not most) of the 20 or so rigs were at least semi-permanent. I packed up and left around 10:30, and plodded to the Dodge dealer. I was told that the part had just come in, and as soon as the engine had cooled (they opened the hood) and there was space, they'd do the work.

So I sat in the parking lot with the windows open, and it was surprisingly comfortable. It was about 78 but cloudy with a VERY brisk wind, and the temperature never got above 80 in the rig, which was just fine. They pulled just the front end into the garage, changed out the part, then someone took the rig for a test drive (while I rode in the back, which was a new experience) and revved it the hell up various hills with the diagnostic computer attached, and all was well. So I thanked them (it was under warranty, so was free!) and headed north around noon.

I know I didn't want to get too far, because there was/is a severe weather outbreak predicted for all of north Missouri. I decided not to camp tonight; we haven't gone through a thunderstorm in the rig, and I didn't want to start with a storm that might require evacuation. So I figured I could go to Springfield and stay at the Motel 6. Once I decided that, I headed for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield, MO.

It's a damn good thing that I stopped to get the rig fixed in West Plains, because I would never have made it much farther. Lots of hills, heavily wooded, with streams and houses--really quite a lovely area. I stopped just before Mansfield to eat (McDonalds!), since I'd had almost nothing for breakfast.

Mansfield is a little midwestern town, with a tiny downtown fixated around the Wilders (I spotted Ma and Pa's Kettle, for instance, and the Little House Motel, among others). The house itself is about a mile outside of town, and the parking lot actually had a bit of shade. I headed up the hill to the museum, which was full of really interesting memorabilia, from original drafts of the books (she wrote in longhand in pencil on tablets) to Pa's fiddle! Plus lots of information about both Laura's and Almanzo's families.

The house itself was great. Almanzo built most of it himself, when they had enough money they'd add a room. Everything was rather low, the counters and the ceilings, possibly because both of them were short (Laura was 4 foot 11 inches, and Almanzo was only 5 foot 4 inches--watching that TV show with the REALLY tall actor playing Almanzo is deceptive!). It eventually was seven rooms downstairs (including a small library, a music room, and a writing room) with a guest bedroom and Rose's loft (reached by a very steep, very narrow "ladder stairway") upstairs. It's built on the edge of a ravine, and just would be a lovely place to live.

After buying a T-shirt and a couple of postcards, I headed back to the rig. All was well with the cats so I drove to the cemetery, which is NOT labeled very well at all. My little map said it was on Lincoln Street, but I turned on Lincoln Avenue, which turned out to be the correct choice. The cemetery is right next to the middle school, and Almanzo, Laura, and Rose are all buried there with nice headstones. I then headed back to the highway.

The hills started leveling out a bit west of Mansfield, and we went through an Amish area (complete with signs showing a horse-and-buggy and saying "Share the road"), and I did pass a man in his buggy, trotting the horse down the edge of the highway (I pulled over to the other lane to give him plenty of room). The hills continued to die down; I'm not sure why Springfield says that it's part of the Ozarks, as there aren't many hills here at all--unless they've been torn down and paved over, which given what I've seen of the town so far is likely.

We then headed to the Motel 6, which is off the highway with lots of other motels. The lady at the desk was really nice, and gave me the last single room on the first floor, complete with parking for the RV across the way; It's nice to be able to see the RV from my window. Apparently other people also wanted the first floor; if we do have a tornado (which at this point seems unlikely, but who knows) we're headed into the bathroom, and should be OK. The cats were not happy to go into the large mesh kennel in the room. Nell in particular was meowing piteously, and I felt very sorry for her, until I fed her and she shut up completely. Now they're both sleeping; Nell has her whole body on the small bed in there, while Puck can only fit his front half. It'll be very interesting to see if they actually begin to curl up together, but it's not happening yet. They have water and a litter box, and seem fine.

I did laundry (might as well take advantage of being here--and I don't think I'll be needing the tank tops much for a while) and then went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner--salad bar and two "slider" hamburgers, and I'm very full. I just took a shower and I'm going to watch "Mythbusters"--this is the life! I do miss my RV, because it's mine and I'm used to the bed and like the fresh air, but we're definitely safer here--another BIG fifth-wheel trailer has pulled in front of me, and there are semi trucks without trailers everywhere--I think everyone's holing up. There are severe storms to the west and north, and I suspect we'll get hammered between midnight and tomorrow morning. Well, checkout time isn't until noon and I have plenty of books to read--I traded in three books I'd read and/or lost interest in and got two new nice light and fluffy novels just right for stormy mornings.


May 13--Nebraska City, Nebraska

I slept OK, although I did wake up at 3am to watch the weather for a while. Then I slept until 6:40am (the cats were caged and couldn't wake me up!) just in time for the severe thunderstorms. We also had a tornado warning, although the possible tornadoes all were south of where we were (yay TV stations with good radar!), so I didn't hide in the bathroom. I was VERY glad that I was in the Motel 6 and not the RV, though! It all died down around 8:30am, and I went next door to the Bob Evans and had a bit of breakfast before leaving around 9:20.

It wasn't raining, although it was cloudy for most of the day. I headed north and stopped in Osceola at the Cheese store, and tried lots of cheeses (the cheese with sausage already in it was quite tasty, although if I had bought even the smallest amount I suspect I would have gotten sick on it). I did buy some cheese curds.

I wanted to go to Butler, where the author Robert Heinlein was born, but the "major" road I took west was still quite narrow and not level and then there was a detour onto a road that was even less level and more narrow. Meanwhile, the weather had deteriorated; I saw a "shelf" cloud, which I had seen described on the Weather Channel, which means a wind shift. And they were right: as soon as I got under the cloud the wind shifted from south to north (thus blowing the rig in a different, equally difficult direction) and the temperature dropped 10 degrees almost immediately. It also began to rain lightly, which it did off and on for most of the afternoon.

I did eventually get to Butler, and I followed a sign, but never did find the house. I aborted the mission early when I found that tree limbs were rubbing the top of the RV, which can't be good. I did drive through "downtown" Butler, and found my favorite shop: a combination pet/live bait store. If you want to buy a goldfish, guppy, rat, or mouse, they don't care if it's as a pet or as a meal--it was called "Pet ur Bait". I took a picture, and will post it sometime.

I then headed north, through Kansas City, past St. Joseph. Here the land really started to flatten out; Butler had been the last of what I'd call "hilly" country, but much of I-29 here is down a river valley between two bluffs far apart. I wanted to stop at the KOA in Rock Port, but it was under renovation/construction and didn't have water. So I drove on a bit more and stopped at a campground here. Very nice, even if their definition of "level" again isn't mine. Everyone must travel with automatic levelers or something, because I had a hell of a time leveling the thing. I think it's OK now. And then I found that I had forgotten the frozen berry mix in my freezer, which had thawed and was now flowing all over the freezer. So I cleaned that up (I don't think I got any juice on my white T-shirt, which will be a miracle if true). I just fed the cats (who are grateful to not be confined in the carrier), and I'm going to eat some cheese curds and salsa and corn chips for dinner. Not very nutritious, but very tasty!